Overview

Saint Eustatius (Sint Eustatius) is one of the Leeward
Islands, and [likewise] part of The Netherlands. As such it's one of the
three islands described together as The Caribbean Netherlands, though
formally, it simply belongs to The Netherlands. Before their dissolution
on 10 October 2010, Saint Eustatius was one of The Netherlands Antilles.
According to law, Saint Eustatius is a public body (openbaar lichaam),
consisting of the island of Saint Eustatius. Of the SSS islands, the
three Leeward Islands that at one time were part of The Netherlands
Antilles, Saint Eustatius is the southernmost.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 11 May 2011

Flag

I received a few days ago information from the St. Eustatius Tourist Bureau:
"St.Eustatius is in the process of having it's own Flag and Coat of
Arms. The proceudure takes a very long time due to the fact that different
committee have to go through all documentation and research the design
and colours etc. We were hoping to have all this done by November 16th
which Statia Day, but this will not maerialize until in 2001. Hoping to
have inform you accordingly."
Mark Sensen, 26 Jun 2000

The procedure to come to a flag and Coat of Arms for St.Eustatius (started
April 2000) still didn't lead to the adoption of a flag and Coat of Arms.
Mark Sensen, 3 Jun 2001

International Civic
Arms shows St. Eustatius Coat of Arms adopted by the island council
in 2002. The Coat of Arms has a motto in Latin: "SUPERBA ET CONFIDENS"
meaning Proud and Confidence.
Nozomi Kariyasu and Ivan Sache, 10 May 2003

St. Eustatius seems still in the process of adopting a flag.
Mark Sensen, 14 Jan 2004

In the local newspaper (The Daily Herald) of 10 September 2004,
it was reported that the Lt. Governor of St. Eustatius (Netherlands Antilles)
announced the new flag and coat-of-arms of St. Eustatius. The flag was
designed by Zuwena Suares. The design of the coat-of-arms is by Walter
Hellebrand. The official presentation of both flag and coat-of-arms will
be on Statia day, 16 November.
Walter Hellebrand, 16 Sep 2004

The image of the coat-of-arms appears on International
Civic Arms and says the island council adopted it in 2002 not 2004.
Exactly this image was loaded down from anywhere in the web on May, 2003.
Nozomi Kariyasu and J. Patrick Fischer, 17 Sep 2004

The flag was adopted in July and will be raised officially for the first
time on Statia Day (16 November).
Mark Sensen, 8 Oct 2004

Image of the new flag is based on <www.amigoe.com>,
located by Nadine Salas. Sint Eustatius will adopt its own flag, coat of
arms and hymn on 16 November 2004 (Statia Day, the Day of Sint Eustatius).
The new flag and coat of arms contain the characteristic contours of the
sleeping volcano-mountain: The Quill. ("Quill" is from Dutch "kuil" = pit,
hole.) 16 November is an historical day for Sint Eustatius, because it
will then be 228 years ago that Fort Oranje was the first to salute the
flag of the United States with gunshots.
Jarig Bakker, 18 Oct 2004

Not a very clear view of the brand new Statia flag at <www.amigoe.com>,
but a historic day for the island - the first official hoisting of its
flag!
Paraskevas Renesis, 19 Nov 2004

Here is the description of the flag of Sint Eustatius, as sent in Dutch
by Jos Poels and translated by me:
"Decision by the Island Council of Sint Eustatius of 29 Jul 2004. #
11.
Article 2 - Description of the flag: The flag is rectangular with the
colors blue, red, white, gold and green. Proportions of width : length
= 2:3. The flag is divided in four five-sided blue squares, each fimbriated
red. In flag center is a diamond-form white field. In the diamond is the
silhouette of the island in green. In the center in the top of the diamond
is a five-pointed golden star."
Information provided by the Secretary of the Island Council.
Jarig Bakker, 26 Nov 2004

Minister Nicolai of Kingdomrelations reached a historic agreement with
Curaçao and Sint Maarten. The islands will become separate countries,
like Aruba. That means that the co-operation between the Netherlands
and the Netherlands Antilles, as agreed by the "Koninkrijksstatuut" of
1954, will end. It is agreed that there will be a common court of justice
of the Netherlands, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. There are also agreements
on policing and prosecution. The Netherlands will take care of the debts
of the Netherlands Antilles, totalling 2,5 billion Euros. The Netherlands
Antilles will cease to exist on 1 July 2007. Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius
will become Dutch municipalities. Aruba is a separate entity since 1986.
No info about change of flags. The currency is also unclear, although
it seems that Aruba might be forced to enter the Euro-zone(!)
Source: <www.nos.nl>
reported by Stefan Lambrechts.
Jarig Bakker, 3 Nov 2007

The Netherlands Antilles will cease to exist on October 10 next year
(2010). The Netherlands Antilles have decided this last Wednesday, September
30.
The Netherlands Antilles arose in 1954 as an autonomous entity within
the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Until the achievement of the Status Aparte
(separate status) for Aruba on January 1, 1986 the Dutch Antilles consisted
of the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, St Eustatius
and St Maarten (St. Martin). They were represented by the six stars in
the 1959 flag of the Netherlands Antilles.
With the separation of Aruba in 1986 one star was dropped, to represent
the five islands left in the Netherlands Antilles.

The remaining five islands in the Netherlands Antilles will on 10 October
2010 go their own political way. Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius will become
special overseas municipalities of the Netherlands.
Curaçao and St. Maarten will get the same status as Aruba already has
achieved.

The current flag of the Netherlands Antilles will cease to exist. The
flags of Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius will become Dutch municipality
flags.

The flags of St. Maarten and Curcacao will get the same status as the
flag of Aruba now.
From October 10, 2010 the Kingdom of the Netherlands will consist of:
The Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten/St. Martin (where the Kingdom
of the Netherlands will still border on la République Française).
Jos Poels, 1 Oct 2009

Saint Eustatius still
uses the flag it had as island territory (eilandgebied) within The
Netherlands Antilles. I have not seen any formal re adoption, but I may
well have missed it.
The capital Fort Oranje is the only town, though some might consider
Concordia a separate settlement. In any case, there's little distiction
between the settlements and the island as a whole and there doesn't seem
to be any kind of flag adopted apart from the island flag.Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 11 May 2011

Coat of Arms

The image is divided into three parts; the past (Golden Rock), present
(Fort Oranje) and the future (angelfish). The golden rock is the name given
to the island when it was a very rich trading post in the Carribean. Fort
Oranje is the oldest building on the island, and the centre of social life.
At the fort the Dutch government was the first to officially salute a US
ship, thus the first official recognition of that country. The fish symbolises
the rich nature and ecological heritage of the island. The nature also
attracts many visitors and is thus of importance for the present and future
of the island. Around the shield is a string of blue beads, a historical
curiosity of the island. Behind the shield are two sugar cane stalks, symbolising
the ancient sugar plantations. The crown symbolises the 16 (former) forts
on the island. The motto Superba et confidens means Proud and Confident.
Rob Raeside, 16 September 2004

According to Ralf Hartemink's site the coat of arms was already adopted
in 2002: "These quite unheraldic 'arms' have been adopted by the island
council in 2002. The image is divided into three parts; the past (Golden
Rock), present (Fort Oranje) and the future (angelfish). The golden rock
is the name given to the island when it was a very rich trading post in
the Carribean. Fort Oranje is the oldest building on the island, and the
centre of social life. At the fort the Dutch government was the first to
officially salute a US ship, thus the first official recognition of that
country. The fish symbolises the rich nature and ecological heritage of
the island. The nature also attracts many visitors and is thus of importance
for the present and future of the island. Around the shield
is a string of blue beads, a historical curiosity of the island. Behind
the shield are two sugar cane stalks, symbolising the ancient sugar plantations.
The crown symbolises the 16 (former) forts on the island. The motto Superba
et confidens means Proud and Confident. The Hoge Raad van Adel,
the Dutch College of Arms, clearly did not agree with the proposal, but
has no official say in the Netherlands Antilles.
Literature : Letter of explanation of the arms to the Hoge Raad van
Adel in Den Haag, the Netherlands."
Jarig Bakker, 19 October 2004

The Star and Stripes in St. Eustatius

At the photo reported from <www.amigoe.com>,
there is also the Stars and Stripes (S&S). Why
do they fly the S&S? (And apparently in the honour position, too, assuming
this is deliberate).
André Coutanche, 19 November 2004

Because Sint Eustatius was the first place to salute the American flag
and to recognize it as the flag of a sovereign state. An American merchantman
called at Fort Oranje sometime during 1775 or 1776, and the battery at
the Fort fired athe standard salute due to non - Dutch vessels entering
a Dutch port.
I think we should try to ascertain whether the flying of the S&S
is official government policy (either local government or that of the Kingdom
of the Netherlands, either directly or through that body which administers
smaller overseas possessions - the larger ones are virtually autonomous),
or whether this is merely local custom and usage which has become sanctioned
over time. It would also be interesting to know whether this flying of
the S&S has been continuous since the 18th Century, or whether it has
been re-introduced recently. I believe that the island was occupied first
by the French and then the British during the Napoleonic Wars, and I can't
imagine that any British commander would have allowed the S&S to be
flown during that period, particularly since Britain and the US were at
war with each other for much of the time.
Ron Lahav, 19 November 2004

The Dutch flag has the honour position (it is the left one of the two
flags in the center), followed by the flag of the Netherlands Antilles,
Unites States and St.Eustatius respectively.
The American ship was the "Andrea Doria", which was a merchantman used
as war ship, and the date was 16 November 1776. (Nowadays 16 November is
"Statia Day", and the flag of St.Eustatius was hoisted for the first time
at Statia Day this year). About three weeks before, however, an American
schooner was saluted by the Danes from Fort Frederik at St.Croix. Both
were flying the "Grand Union Flag" a.k.a. "Continental
Colors". The Stars and Stripes was first saluted by the French at the Bay
of Quiberon (south coast of Brittany) in 1777.
Mark Sensen, 20 November 2004

Just for the record the US navy use anglicized spelling of the official
name and the ship was Andrew Doria. Dictionary
of American Naval Fighting Ships report: "Capt. Isaiah Robinson took
command of Andrew Doria, and he took her down the Delaware on 17 October
for a voyage to the West Indies to obtain a cargo of munitions and military
supplies at St. Eustatius. When she reached that Dutch island on 16 November,
Andrew Doria fired a salute of 11 guns and received a reply - the first
salute to an American flag on board an American warship in a foreign port".
Painting of the ship at St. Eustatius (with the "Grand Union Flag"
as Mark said) can be seen at <www.history.navy.mil/andrew_doria-i.jpg>.
Dov Gutterman, 20 November 2004